Traditional and terrifying, the masks of combat were donned by the Kaleesh warlord Qymaen jai Sheelal, who would later be known as General Grievous. One such mask was crafted using the skull and bones of the Mumuu, a particularly dangerous predatory animal native to Kalee. Another was constructed from the bones of an Erkush. Before entering battle, the mask's eye sockets would be painted with Karabbac-blood war paint.
The bone of creatures was used to carve Grievous's Kaleesh masks. One of the fearsome and traditional war masks worn by Grievous was crafted from the skull and bone of the mumuu, one of the most deadly and terrifying predatory species on Kalee. One more of his original masks was formed from the bone of an Erkush. The teeth of these masks bore a resemblance to those of the karabbac. Just above Grievous's narrow, golden eyes, the mask was daubed with war paint made from karabbac-blood prior to combat.
Decades prior to the [Clone Wars](/article/clone_wars], the now infamous warlord Qymaen jai Sheelal, who would eventually be known as Grievous, would wear a Kaleesh mask during battles, including the Kaleesh-Yam'rii War between his people and the Yam'rii. Eventually, he sustained catastrophic injuries in a sabotage shuttle crash that almost ended his life, obliterating the majority of his original physical form. When Grievous rose to the rank of General in the Confederacy of Independent Systems, he honored the customs of his homeworld by modeling his faceplate after the skull-like mask he had once worn as a respected warrior and warlord.
Sometime later, an Ithorian collector named Dok-Ondar obtained an original Kaleesh mask that had been worn by the deceased General Grievous. He put it on display at his Batuuan establishment, Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities, situated in Black Spire Outpost on the planet Batuu. Years later, Vi Moradi, a Resistance spy in hiding from First Order stormtroopers on Batuu, paid a visit to Dok-Ondar's store. She spotted a mask that seemed promising, but soon realized it was a Kaleesh mask, which would only attract unwanted attention to her.
The initial appearance of Grievous's mask was in the Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities store at the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge theme park area. This area was inaugurated for visitors at Disneyland Park and Disney's Hollywood Studios in 2019. While the owner of the mask remained unidentified until the 2020 reference book Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: Traveler's Guide to Batuu, authored by Cole Horton, confirmed it to belong to Grievous.
The original appearance of Grievous's masks was within the Star Wars Legends continuity, specifically in "The Eyes of Revolution," a comic story penned and illustrated by Warren Fu. This story was featured in the Dark Horse Comics anthology Star Wars: Visionaries, released on April 2, 2005. Furthermore, they were mentioned in "Unknown Soldier: The Story of General Grievous," an article authored by Abel G. Peña and published in the eighty-sixth issue of Star Wars Insider, which was released on February 13, 2006.